NOT BAD, BUT MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE INFO. I attached a few things that I randomly found that add a little more depth to your wiki. Feel free to keep or delete them. The Monuments Men article is just there because it is topical (because of the movie) and it mentions the theft of Nefertiti's bust by the Nazis.
During World War II, the Nazis executed the greatest art heist in history. It was left to a special Allied military unit to get Europe’s priceless cultural treasures back. Learn more about the unlikely war heroes who recovered thousands of looted artworks and inspired “The Monuments Men.
There is a lot known about Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten, and The Armana Period of Egypt. Because religion played such a significant role in all of Egypt's history, the period becomes a grand anomaly worthy of much focus.This period has a three fold effect on Egyptian society, art, religion, and politics. As history has shown the three are most always interconnected. It is known that during Akhenaten's rule, the religion changed to basically monotheism,the art style was changed, and there were considerable shifts in power in the political system.
Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten
This story of the Armana Period starts not with Akhenaten, but with his father, Amenhotep III. Egyptologists and others usually expand this period to include at least the latter part of his father,Amenhotep III's reign through or at least into the reign of Tutankhamun. Amenhotep III began instilling in his son a desire for change, the same desire he had but was unable to bring to fruition. It is believed that during the First 5 years of Akhenaten's rule it was shard with his father, creating a perfect avenue for change. It is unclear whether all of the changes were brought on by Amenhotep III and simply fulfilled through Akhenaten; or more likely, Akhenaten had simply been shown some of the problems and his brilliant political mind sorted out all the details.
Amenhotep III
Traditionally, the sky-god Horus had been incarnate in the king and carried theAten, the disk of the daytime sun named Re, across the heavens upon giant falcon wings. In the final stage of Akhenaten's revisions, the falcon of Re-Horakhty was transformed from the bearer of the solar disk upon its vertex into the disk itself. Hence, though the sun disk had been there all along, its nature was completely changed during the reign of Akhenaten. At first, the king built a temple to his god Aten immediately outside the east gate of the temple of Amun at Karnak, but clearly the coexistence of the two cults could not last. He therefore proscribed the cult of Amun, closed the god's temples, took over the revenues. He then sent his officials around to destroy Amens statues and to desecrate the worship sitesThese actions were so contrary to the traditional that opposition arose against him. The estates of the great temples of Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis reverted to the throne. Corruption grew out of the mismanagement of such large levies. To make a complete break, in Year 6 the king and his queen, left Thebes behind and moved to a new capital in Middle Egypt, half way between Memphis and Thebes. It was a virgin site, not previously dedicated to any other god or goddess, and he named it Akhetaten-The Horizon of the Aten. Today the site is known as el-Amarna. Though this maneuver seems to be completely religiously charged and purely for reformation, it was not.There was significant displacement and reduction in status of the powerful priests ofAmun and other gods. Making the King and his new priest all the more important. He was turning not only the upper class and the political sheers to shine upon him, but literally the whole empire.Now, there only recourse was the king, who becomes the sole prophet of their god.Therefore, the faithful of the Amarna period pray at home in front of an altar that contains a picture of the king and his family. The new religion could be summed up as "there is no god but Aten, andAkhenaten is his prophet".
symbol for Aten
In art, Akhenaten launched a reform for a more natural, softer, feminine style. He began with himself and his family. instructing the master sculptors in his new desires for the art. One possible reason for his desire of the new style my have been to go hand in hand with his religious reform so that he would be seen as merciful and caring.His art reform also helped with his simultaneous religion reform and his political aims.The famous bust ofNefertiti in Berlin, the queen is not subject to quite the same extremes as others in Amarna art, by virtue of being elegantly female.Indeed, there are several curious aspects of Nefertiti's representations. In the early years of Akhenaten's reign, for instance, Nefertiti was an unusually prominent figure in official art, dominating the scenes carved on blocks of the temple to the Aten at Karnak. One such block shows her in the age-old warlike posture of pharaoh grasping captives by the hair and smiting them with a mace hardly the epitome of the peaceful queen and mother of six daughters. Nefertiti evidently played a far more prominent part in her husband's rule than was the norm.The change in how Nefertiti is portrayed is a shining example of the progression of Armana art.
Bust of Nefertiti Akhenaten and Nefertiti playing with their children
Through both the art and religious reforms, Ahkenaten solidified his political powers by turning the country to rely on them. He attempted to remove any and all other channels between his people and their religion making himself of the utmost importance in religion, as well as the ultimate authority by law. He sought to turn the Pharaoh's position into one of absolute authority and importance. Through his family and art, he wanted to win the hearts of the people by being less stoic and more relate-able, but yet he was an avenue to their god, and their absolute ruler at the same to. So through god, government, and emotion he sought to dominate his empire.
After Akhenaten's reign, his son King Tut would have likely continued his father's reform but died at a young age. His sucessor Ay, father to Nefertiti, God father to Akhenaten, and kings advisor assumed the throne. This leads to the theory that the Armana period may have simply been the machinations of Ay to achieve power. Although, that theory sounds more like conspiracy theory than plausibility.
May 13, 2014
The Real-Life Story Behind “The Monuments Men”
By Christopher KleinDuring World War II, the Nazis executed the greatest art heist in history. It was left to a special Allied military unit to get Europe’s priceless cultural treasures back. Learn more about the unlikely war heroes who recovered thousands of looted artworks and inspired “The Monuments Men.
Read more…..
http://www.history.com/news/the-real-life-story-behind-the-monuments-men
Tanner Gravely
There is a lot known about Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten, and The Armana Period of Egypt. Because religion played such a significant role in all of Egypt's history, the period becomes a grand anomaly worthy of much focus.This period has a three fold effect on Egyptian society, art, religion, and politics. As history has shown the three are most always interconnected. It is known that during Akhenaten's rule, the religion changed to basically monotheism,the art style was changed, and there were considerable shifts in power in the political system.
Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten
This story of the Armana Period starts not with Akhenaten, but with his father, Amenhotep III. Egyptologists and others usually expand this period to include at least the latter part of his father, Amenhotep III's reign through or at least into the reign of Tutankhamun. Amenhotep III began instilling in his son a desire for change, the same desire he had but was unable to bring to fruition. It is believed that during the First 5 years of Akhenaten's rule it was shard with his father, creating a perfect avenue for change. It is unclear whether all of the changes were brought on by Amenhotep III and simply fulfilled through Akhenaten; or more likely, Akhenaten had simply been shown some of the problems and his brilliant political mind sorted out all the details.
Amenhotep III
Traditionally, the sky-god Horus had been incarnate in the king and carried the Aten, the disk of the daytime sun named Re, across the heavens upon giant falcon wings. In the final stage of Akhenaten's revisions, the falcon of Re-Horakhty was transformed from the bearer of the solar disk upon its vertex into the disk itself. Hence, though the sun disk had been there all along, its nature was completely changed during the reign of Akhenaten. At first, the king built a temple to his god Aten immediately outside the east gate of the temple of Amun at Karnak, but clearly the coexistence of the two cults could not last. He therefore proscribed the cult of Amun, closed the god's temples, took over the revenues. He then sent his officials around to destroy Amens statues and to desecrate the worship sitesThese actions were so contrary to the traditional that opposition arose against him. The estates of the great temples of Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis reverted to the throne. Corruption grew out of the mismanagement of such large levies. To make a complete break, in Year 6 the king and his queen, left Thebes behind and moved to a new capital in Middle Egypt, half way between Memphis and Thebes. It was a virgin site, not previously dedicated to any other god or goddess, and he named it Akhetaten-The Horizon of the Aten. Today the site is known as el-Amarna. Though this maneuver seems to be completely religiously charged and purely for reformation, it was not.There was significant displacement and reduction in status of the powerful priests of Amun and other gods. Making the King and his new priest all the more important. He was turning not only the upper class and the political sheers to shine upon him, but literally the whole empire.Now, there only recourse was the king, who becomes the sole prophet of their god.Therefore, the faithful of the Amarna period pray at home in front of an altar that contains a picture of the king and his family. The new religion could be summed up as "there is no god but Aten, and Akhenaten is his prophet".
symbol for Aten
In art, Akhenaten launched a reform for a more natural, softer, feminine style. He began with himself and his family. instructing the master sculptors in his new desires for the art. One possible reason for his desire of the new style my have been to go hand in hand with his religious reform so that he would be seen as merciful and caring.His art reform also helped with his simultaneous religion reform and his political aims.The famous bust of Nefertiti in Berlin, the queen is not subject to quite the same extremes as others in Amarna art, by virtue of being elegantly female.Indeed, there are several curious aspects of Nefertiti's representations. In the early years of Akhenaten's reign, for instance, Nefertiti was an unusually prominent figure in official art, dominating the scenes carved on blocks of the temple to the Aten at Karnak. One such block shows her in the age-old warlike posture of pharaoh grasping captives by the hair and smiting them with a mace hardly the epitome of the peaceful queen and mother of six daughters. Nefertiti evidently played a far more prominent part in her husband's rule than was the norm.The change in how Nefertiti is portrayed is a shining example of the progression of Armana art.
Bust of Nefertiti
Through both the art and religious reforms, Ahkenaten solidified his political powers by turning the country to rely on them. He attempted to remove any and all other channels between his people and their religion making himself of the utmost importance in religion, as well as the ultimate authority by law. He sought to turn the Pharaoh's position into one of absolute authority and importance. Through his family and art, he wanted to win the hearts of the people by being less stoic and more relate-able, but yet he was an avenue to their god, and their absolute ruler at the same to. So through god, government, and emotion he sought to dominate his empire.
After Akhenaten's reign, his son King Tut would have likely continued his father's reform but died at a young age. His sucessor Ay, father to Nefertiti, God father to Akhenaten, and kings advisor assumed the throne. This leads to the theory that the Armana period may have simply been the machinations of Ay to achieve power. Although, that theory sounds more like conspiracy theory than plausibility.